London, 3 June 2013
One year ago, on 3 June 2012, the first of a series of pogroms against the Rohingya and other Muslim communities took place. There have been countless deaths, destruction to property, large scale internal displacement and segregation within Rakhine state of Myanmar as a result. ERT has been one of the leading civil society voices calling for an end to all violence and abuse and for greater protection of the human rights of the Rohingya.
ERT's Burning Homes, Sinking Lives was the first detailed report to be published on the violence of June 2012. Similarly, ERT responded to the October violence by publishing an Emergency Report. ERT, in collaboration with partner organisations has also organised a wide range of advocacy actions on the Rohingya issue over the past year.
To mark the one year anniversary of the beginning of the violence, ERT, The Arakan Project, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK and Refugees International have jointly organised a Side Meeting to the 2013 UNHCR NGO Consultations titled “Advocating Together to Protect Stateless Rohingya”. The side meeting will be from 1.15–2.15pm on 12 June 2013 at the International Conference Centre, Geneva.
The meeting will focus on the different characteristics of the Rohingya situation and the role of UNHCR in relation to stateless persons, refugees and internally displaced persons. The objective of the meeting is to explore ways in which NGOs can be more effective in advocating together with UNHCR to protect and assist Rohingya who are internally displaced and refugees in the region, as well as address the root causes of their flight and find solutions to their lack of citizenship.
Moderator:
Amal de Chickera (The Equal Rights Trust)
Speakers:
The Stateless Rohingya – Tun Khin (Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK)
The Displaced Rohingya – Melanie Teff (Refugees international)
The Rohingya Refugee Exodus – Chris Lewa (The Arakan Project)
The Side Meeting will also provide an opportunity for civil society organisations to endorse a joint statement on the human rights protection of stateless Rohingya, one year after the violence began. To receive the draft statement, please contact amal.dechickera@equalrightstrust.org.
To read the flyer with details of the Rohingya Side Meeting in Geneva, click here
To read Burning Homes, Sinking Lives, click here
To read the ERT Emergency Report, click here
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